<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>fighting on a new battlefield by Skyuni123</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27796981">fighting on a new battlefield</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyuni123/pseuds/Skyuni123'>Skyuni123</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stargate SG-1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Horror, M/M, Multi, NaNoWriMo 2020, Team as Family</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:20:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,904</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27796981</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyuni123/pseuds/Skyuni123</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>sg-1 arrives back to earth to find the stargate command deserted, all their friends dead, and the world destroyed. </p>
<p>it's a really bad way to start a relationship.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Samantha "Sam" Carter/Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill/Teal'c</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>warnings for this chapter:</p>
<p>an absolute shit ton of gore</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>author's note - i'm fudging how things are laid out in the sgc. let's presume, for the moment, that everything important is kept on one or two levels, not spread out across the entire building</p>
<p>set midway through season 5</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>SG-1 steps through the gate on PTL-X15 - a planet, shrouded in toxic gas and weird river monsters and absolutely no radio signal - </span>
  <span>confident in their expertise and what they've done, and they step out on Earth in a Stargate Command sheathed in total darkness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They're masked, and safe, but Stargate Command certainly isn't.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It is absolute, and it is silent. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The only light come from the Stargate, which fades and stutters out as Teal'c - bringing up the rear - is through.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Night vision." Jack hisses. "Quickly." He sounds surprised. He is surprised.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>What he can't say - what he doesn't voice - is that he can sense it. Blood, thick and metallic, hangs in the air. Something is terribly wrong. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They all switch to night vision, a practised movement for an practised team. Something is very, very wrong.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It's not immediately apparent, just dark smudges against the darkish walls, but it's obvious with the feeling in the air. Pools of blood, coating the walls. Splatter, spray, dark touches - it's there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But there's no bodies. There's nothing else.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel looks up to the window overlooking the gate room, sees nothing but blood misted across the large glass window. It's a horrible sight. It's a sight from a horror film.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What the hell-" Daniel breathes, voice shaky, before Jack shushes him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Quiet, Jackson. Hand signals only. We don't know who else is in here. Weapons ready." Jack hisses, even quieter this time, and then gestures for them to fan out and examine the gate room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>They all bring up their weapons and search the room in pairs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>More blood, no bodies. It's horrifying. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel gags, only just managing to keep the bile down. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>After a preliminary sweep, Jack directs their attention towards the command room. Him and Daniel, Carter and Teal'c. Both sides, move in. Keep your guard up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No noise, no alarms, nothing but the sound of their boots on the floor and the gentle brush of their clothing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It's only a handful of minutes before both groups emerge into the command room - mercifully empty - and sweep the room for any intruders. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nothing. Just more silence, just more blood. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>On the main Stargate monitor, a red light is blinking, urgent in its delivery. Jack gestures for Carter to take a look at it with a simple nod of his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She taps a few keys. Nothing. She tries something more, presses a few buttons on the monitor, and...</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fading in from darkness, just slowly enough that they can remove their night vision goggles, is a video, coming up bright in the dark on the screen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>General Hammond, looking exhausted down to the bone, dark smudges under his eyes. He's got a long dark cut along one eyebrow, dripping blood down the side of his face. In his hands is a weapon, something tactical and hard-hitting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"All teams, all teams, including SG-1. I'm recording you this message in the event that you return home. While Walter has assured me that we have blocked all known gate addresses and forcibly removed iris control to keep you on the safer side of the galaxy, I am recording this message in case you find your way back. Earth has fallen to a deadly plague - files available within our server system. There is no saving us. Stay quiet, stay enclosed. All teams we could contact have been diverted to the Alpha Site. Dial out there and stay there. Good luck, SG-1. Godspeed." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There's an explosion, and the message cuts out with a burst of static. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There's a moment, then-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Okay, what the hell." Daniel says, under his voice. "What the hell is going on. Is this- Sam, is this our reality?" </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I don't know." Sam replies, quietly. "It looks the same. I'd have to check our files for..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What did you not get about staying quiet?" Jack says, sharply, but still under his voice. He gestures for him to follow them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There's an isolation room just down the corridor from the command center, for recent space arrivals and deadly situations. It's got a viewing window in the edge of the sloped ceiling, but it's soundproof and the walls are fairly thick. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Once he's got the door shut, he puts his pack down, and lights up his lantern, placing it in the centre of the room.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This room is mercifully blood-free. Daniel sets his pack down too. Sam and Teal'c follow, both lighting their lanterns. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What is this." Jack says, steadily. He's not freaking out. Not really. There's a tiny, tiny twinge of panic in his gut, though. Something is very, very wrong. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Sir, I don't know." Carter says. "I'd have to check the files on the server and then..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Teal'c?" Jack barks. "Anything?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Nothing I have seen in the past, O'Neill." Teal'c replies. "Many civilisations had plagues, but I have not seen this before." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Daniel?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I mean, it could be any number of things." Daniel says, "We saw plagues on Abydos. Plagues are fairly common throughout history, but this is... brutal. We need more context, Jack. I can't even begin to think about what this could mean." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He gags, inside his hood, and just manages to keep the bile from rising again. "God."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Okay." Jack says, making plans very quickly inside his head. "Alright. We're all going to get to- uh, Carter- where do you have access to the database?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I can do it from Command, Sir." She says, "But it's a bit- exposed. If you want to be more careful, most of the other offices should still have connection to the servers, provided the emergency power is still working?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Mine's closest." Daniel says. "If the grid's still working." </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Okay. Danny's office. See if this thing's airborne. Then the armoury. Then we see if we can get some power up, dial the gate out. Then... we'll see." Jack says. He picks up his pack again. "Move ou-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Anything else he was about to say is completely erased under the sound of shattering glass. It comes from above, rains down on them, as... SOMETHING, big, bloody and brutalistic, jumps down from above. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It snarls, an odd chittering sound, and lands on the floor in front of them. It's human-sized, human-like, with bright red eyes and greyish skin. Dressed in the base uniform, it's a corpse, literally. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And it runs straight for them, limbs flailing, nails sharp.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sam pushes Daniel out of the way, takes aim with her pistol and fires. The first, second and third shots to the chest don't stagger it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The fourth shot to the head drops it to its knees. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It slumps over onto the ground, chunks of bloodied meat sloughing away across the floor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Gods." Daniel sighs, looking sick.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>All the others don't look much better.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What. The hell. Are these things." Jack says, gritting his teeth. "I need answers, Carter. Now."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Let's get those files, Sir." Sam says, looking sick.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>It's a quiet and fearful walk to Daniel's office. Teal'c leads, followed by Sam and Daniel, and with Jack bringing up the rear. Any creak makes them stiffen. Any noise is a threat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There's bodies lining the walls of the corridor. Airmen, officers, people they know and those they don't.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It's like a horror film, but much more real. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>They don't come to any other trouble, though, and step into Daniel's office a few minutes later. Jack shuts the door, and then, thinking, slides a chair and a couple of heavy files in front of it. It won't hold forever, but it will give them some time, and that's all that matters.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There's power, it seems, or at least enough to connect to the base server off Daniel's computer. It takes a while to load - longer than usual, the screen lagging as the Sam tries to open the shared drive. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack looks like he's about to jump out of his skin. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Alright." Sam says, voice just above a whisper. "I've got something." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's a medical file, standard detailing of a disease classification. Sam scans down it, squinting at the bright light in the darkness. "Most of this is over my head, really... Seems to be a rabies/flu hybrid. Didn't come through the gate. Presents with fever, extreme headache, dry cough and muscle spasms. And... it's not airborne. Transmitted only by infected fluids and bites."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Great." Jack says, and begins to pull off his mask.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Wait." Sam says. She holds up a hand. "It might have mutated. We don't know. We can't tell. I think... while we're in the vicinity of... bodies, we keep the masks on."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack just nods, and pushes his mask back into place, looking agitated.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"The creature you killed, Captain Carter." Teal'c asks. "Does the report state the nature of that being?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"There's an... addendum." Sam says, scrolling further. "Those who succumb to the illness reawaken with a degree of ferality within a few minutes. These creatures are rabid, violent, and can transmit the disease."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Like zom-" Daniel starts, leaning over Sam's shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"No." Jack says, his lips a thin line. He looks tense. "No. Don't say it. I am barely holding it together as it is, if you add the z-word to the mix I'm going to lose it. Don't."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"There's a degree of historical precedent, Jack-" Daniel tries, again, but Jack just shakes his head.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Don't." He says. He looks a little like he's trembling. "Carter. Is there any way we can stop this thing?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"The risen creatures are fundamentally blind in the light, can see decently in the dark. They're incredibly sensitive to sound, which is how they hunt their prey, and have no sense of smell. Potential overseas origin, though Patient Zero hasn’t yet been traced. The only other thing this document says is that headshots-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Kill..." Daniel continues, but not from the file. "But body shots only slow them. Gods, this is... unbelievable."</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Nothing medicinal here." Sam says. "Except opiods to slow the pain after a bite. No cure."</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Shit." Jack says. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"This was dated two days ago." Sam says, "They might have..."</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I believe it is apparent, Captain Carter," Teal'c smoothly interjects, "That they did not."</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Dammit." Jack slams a fist down on Daniel's desk suddenly. It's so unlike him, but he's clearly panicking. "Dammit. Carter, I want you to see if anyone's doing any better than us."</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sam's already on it, scanning through the files and databases. "Last wider connection was late last night, Sir. From the General's phone. The President, I'd suggest. There's a recording of the call. Should I play it?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack doesn't say anything, just waves a hand. He looks tired.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first half of the message is cut off in static. Then, "-we are done. The bunker has been bre[zzzz!]. You are on your o[zzzt!]. Good luck, General."</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"There's nothing, sir." Carter says. "I can't find any networks. Nothing significant, only ham radios and local am/fm. Nothing that's substantial. There's news articles, violence on the streets, panic - but nothing since early this morning. We're alone, sir. Topside is toast."</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We're out of here." Jack says, obviously making a very quick decision. "Grab anything you need, Danny. Teal'c, stay with him. Carter and I will go back to the gateroom and get the gate running."</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"But-" Daniel interjects, "Shouldn't we- stay and help? We've got an obligation to..." He looks miserable. "There's people out there."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"There are God knows how many of those things in here." Jack snaps. "We need to get out, regroup, figure out what the hell we're going to do, and then maybe- maybe we'll come back." </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"But sir-" Sam starts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I don't want to hear it, Carter. You've got ten minutes, Daniel. We're out." </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Sir, I don't think this is a good idea." Sam says, keeping her voice low as she and Jack head towards her lab. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"And why not?" Jack replies, scanning the area through his goggles.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What if we can't get back? I know there's safe enough worlds out there, the Alpha Site is a start, but we aren't exactly prepared to set up a new civilisation with the scraps of SG teams. At least there's infrastructure here. There's a basis to start from." </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We got back through last time. Why wouldn't we again?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We-" But then she hears it. A snarl, followed by that same, alien chittering. She holds up a hand. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>She gestures. Back against the wall. Down low. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Together, in unison, as quite as they can manage, she and Jack creep back, down, and into a recessed alcove along the edge of one of the corridors. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It's only a few seconds later when the creature passes. It used to be Lieutenant Elroy. Black uniform shirt ripped down to its navel, dripping with wet blood. Three of its fingers are torn off, and there's a bullet hole in its shoulder. It looks like it reeks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack pulls his knife from its sheath on his belt and steps up behind the creature. It whirls, sensing him, letting out a cry of high, distorted chitters. Then, Jack pulls his knife back and stabs it, straight through its forehead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It falls to the ground, thick fluid pouring from the wound. Jack takes his knife back, wipes it on the officer's jacket, and resheaths it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He turns back to Sam. He doesn't say anything, but the look in his eyes is enough. He's panicking. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We are leaving.” There’s nothing to argue against in his voice. It’s resigned. Exhausted. Desperate not to kill something that used to be someone they knew. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes sir.” Carter says, quietly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>They make their way to the gateroom.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel doesn't know what to pack. There's too many things, too much history and too much that he can't afford to lose. He packs his SGC laptop, which has the basis of his notes on it, and can be modified to run on solar power. There's a couple of notebooks he takes, a handful of icons and one or two tiny statuettes. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>As well as the bottle of whiskey in his drawer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What?" He says, when Teal'c looks at him. "I've gotta have some kind of stress relief. I'm not getting it anywhere else." </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Teal'c just inclines his head at him in a way that's obviously a little judgmental. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Honestly." Daniel complains. "So much judgment." </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>They make their way back to the gateroom via Teal'c's quarters. He doesn't take much, just a few candles, some comfort items. He's used to living on his feet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"All set?" Jack says. He'd grabbed some more MREs on his way to the gateroom. They'd gone past his and Carter's rooms, but they'd not taken much.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." Daniel replies. They're still doing it quietly, still talking barely above a whisper. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I'll give dialing a go then." Sam says. "But- sir... I just-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Spit it out, Carter." Jack says, visibly twitchy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"It's going to be loud. Really loud." </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." Jack says. "We're going to have to dial and then make a run for it. That'll work?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I think I can modify it so the dialing computer shuts off after a short period of time." Sam replies. "Would stop anything following us through?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Do it." Jack orders.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>AFter a handful of tense, frightening moments - every creak, every hiss of the building makes them nervous - Sam nods. "Okay." </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Daniel, Teal'c, get down to the gateroom." Jack says. "Now." His tone belies no argument. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"O'Neill?" Teal'c questions, for the first time since they returned through the gate.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"No. I'm staying with Sam. We'll run down once the thing's started. You two get ready to go through." </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Teal'c nods. It seems to make sense to him. Daniel just follows along, because at this point, he hardly knows what to do. They depart down to the gateroom, cautiously, quietly. The door makes a rattling noise as it slides open, and Jack winces.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he can just see them through the bloodied muck covering the windows, he nods at Carter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She starts the dialing sequence, and it's like an alarm has cut through the place. The snarling chittering, the horrible noise, it amplifies three-fold, a cacophony in contrast to the silence of moments previous.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Run." Jack says, and drags his weapon up to its ready position. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The first symbol locks in as they take off down the stairs, mindful of their steps, but not too mindful. If something's going to cover their tracks, it's the sound of the Stargate dialing. The door to the gateroom slides open just as another one of the creatures darts in front of them. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack knocks it clear with the butt of his rifle and shields Sam as it hisses at him from the ground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Go, go, go." He snarls, pushing her through the door and dragging it shut behind him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He smashes the keypad on their side, locking it shut. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The second, third, fourth and fifth symbols lock in as the chittering gets louder and louder outside the doors. Some of them have reached the command center, and Jack can just see them through the smudges of blood on the windows, through the haze. They're pressed up against the windows, their weight a constant pressure on the glass.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Come on, come on." Daniel chants, looking at the Stargate anxiously. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sixth symbol locks.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The grating ring seems to take a lifetime to slide round to the seventh position. It's hangs there, for a moment. Clicking, humming, energy flowing through it, then-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It fails to lock. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>The entire Stargate powers down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>All they can hear is the snarling coming from outside the walls. </span>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then the command room windows explode, raining glass down on them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The creatures take that moment to leap through and attack. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>"Defensive positions, now!" Jack yells, because it doesn't matter when the creatures know exactly where they are. They back up the ramp, backs to the Stargate, drawing their weapons.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Headshots, otherwise hit the legs! Take them down." Jack continues. One of the creatures staggers up the ramp, heading straight for them, and he takes it out neatly with a couple of shots to the head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It's a firefight they can't win, but they'll go out fighting. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>There seems to be an endless stream of the creatures. People they know, people they don't. Bloody, brutalised, violated. It's rage that fuels them, anger, noise. But time has passed for SG-1 to be quiet. It's too late now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The creatures fall at their feet, piling up higher and higher. One grabs at Daniel's ankle from the side of the ramp, drags him towards him, fingers thick through the fabric of his pants, and he kicks at it, swings at it with his rifle and nails it in the shoulder with a bullet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But there's too many. It's relentless. And there's no escape through the Stargate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm running low, sir!" Carter yells, tension thick in her voice.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Me too." Daniel huffs, braced against the thick metal edge of the Stargate. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Teal'c could go forever, with the seemingly infinite power that his staff runs on, but he's looking exhausted, sweat pouring from his brow, where he's had to physically batter the creatures back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Any bright ideas?!" Jack yells. He's braced on the other side of the Stargate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Bright. Bright. That'll do it. "Flashbangs." Sam yells. "Sensitive to bright light, to sound -"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"GOTCHA." Jack yells, pulling a flashbang from his BDUs. "Danny, Teal'c, Sam. Behind the Stargate. Jump down!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They do as he asks. He pulls the pin, tosses it towards the creatures, and leaps down behind the Stargate, covering his ears with his hands and jamming his eyes shut. He lands rough, but as he lands there's-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>An explosion. Loud and bright and jarring and they're too close, but it rips through the room, shakes the walls, illuminates everything with a bright light for one sharp second. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The chittering turns to screams. Bright, angry, frightened screams. Then silence. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jack opens his eyes, gingerly, blinking away the spots behind his eyes. He pokes his head up from behind the Stargate, standing carefully on aching knees. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The creatures are down. They're whimpering, writhing, falling over the rest of their brood. They're down. For now. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>With a series of quick hand gestures, Jack leads them towards the other door into the gateroom, the one he didn't bar. He slides it open, gently, not relying on the mechanics, and they all creep out, as silently as they can manage. Some of the creatures reach out, desperate to attack, to fight, to grab, but they manage to get past, carefully, before they can.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jack drags the door shut again with Teal'c help, and deactivates the keypad. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It is devastatingly dark back in the corridors again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jack doesn't speak until they're back within the relative safety of Daniel's office again, several corridors away from the creatures.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"What the hell was that, Carter?" Jack snarls, more agitated than she's ever seen him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I don't know, sir." Sam replies, trying to diffuse the tension. "I don't know."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, figure it out." Jack drops his pack to the ground and starts pacing. He looks incredibly stressed, wit fraying at the edges, and like he could snap at any minute. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You seem uncharacteristically upset, O'Neill." Teal'c says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Daniel just sits on the edge of his desk and grips onto the edge, in silence. He's shaking, just a little, and his head hurts. The flashbang had hurt them all, taken the edge off the sharpness of sounds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He's not slept in many, many hours. Since they were back on the planet, and he'd not slept well there either.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I don't like goddamn zo-" Jack cuts himself off before he finishes the word. "They get under my skin, okay? Freaky bastards. This isn't right. I'm pretty sure I saw Walter go down in there, and I don't even know about the General... You sure this is our reality?" </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"The concept of crossing universes is a really new school of thought, sir." Sam says, seemingly lost in thought. "I don't know how we could have done it this time. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening, though I might have to check the gate computer to confirm. Besides, everything of mine is exactly how I left it."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Mine too." Daniel says. "No changes. All of my artifacts are the same, all my notes."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"My belongings are untouched." Teal'c adds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, mine too." Jack says. "Dammit. Any chance this is a dream?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hope not." Sam says. "Do you tend to dream about things like this?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I don't know if my brain could make up the amount of shit I've seen in the last two hours." Jack says. "Seems too real. Too grounded."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Goa'uld trick?" Daniel asks, fingers gripping onto the edge of the desk so hard that they've gone white."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"The Goa'uld wouldn't do something like this, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c says. He looks irritatingly unruffled. "They are aware where the Tau'ri reside and what skills we all possess. They have nothing to gain by interrogating our minds for information." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Dammit." Jack says, again. "Guess the likely thing is that this is real. So. Carter. Any chance of getting out of here? What happened with the gate?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"The General said they were hoping that we wouldn't get back." Sam muses. "To the point where I presume they were trying to disable the gate." She sighs. "Maybe they took out some of the key systems? Stopped us from dialing out? I probably could fix it... but I don't know if we could survive another onslaught in the gateroom like that again."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"We've seen what flashbangs do, however." Jack says. "That's one line of defense." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Even so." Sam says. "I think... what we should do is try and take the base back. See what systems we can recover, find our way here... then venture outside. I don't think we should abandon Earth, sir."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I agree." Daniel says, piping up properly for the first time in a while. "As far as we know... it's hell outside. I don't know what we could do stuck on another planet by ourselves, however. Did Hammond get the message out to the other SG teams? Will they still be trying to come back? We've got to try here for a bit before we abandon things completely."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I concur." Teal'c adds. "Your race is resilient. We should not leave them at their time of crisis." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Dammit." Jack says. "You're all right. Obviously. Fine. Carter. How do we get the SGC back?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I've got a few ideas." Carter says, with something a little like an evil gleam in her eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carter's lab isn't very large, but it's big enough to fit all four of them while she outlines her device plans. It's a directional light pulse, able to blind the creatures, whilst not affecting the rest of them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You know what would actually help." Sam says, halfway through a line of soldering. "Getting the power back on. I reckon that'd disorientate them a fair bit. I think we're running on emergency power at the moment."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Would help if we didn't have to wear these damn goggles too." Jack says. "What about the masks?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I would like to run an atmosphere scan before we take them off." Sam says. "Just in case." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm getting fairly low on air." Daniel says. "Maybe twenty minutes?" </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I am as well." Teal'c adds. He looks at the readout on his wrist. "Fifteen."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You, hopefully, would be immune to this disease." Sam says, "But I don't want to take any chances. Could you take a trip to the armoury, sort out the tanks? Just until I check that this damn disease isn't airborne?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Teal'c, you and me." Jack says. "You good here, Carter? Daniel?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Fine, sir." Sam says. Her sidearm is on the table, well within reach. "We'll keep the door barred until we hear you knock, okay?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Good." Jack says. "Stay safe, kids."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Will do, sir." Sam replies, and goes back to her soldering.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The other two depart, slipping out of the room like ghosts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Daniel and Sam continue their work. Daniel's tapping through his laptop, frowning down at it, his brow furrowed. Sam keeps on soldering.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"What I don't get," Daniel says, thoughtfully, "is how this happened." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Someone tracked the disease in." Sam replies, "It spread within the base before we could go on lockdown. It's plausible."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Not that." Daniel says. "That's just basic biology. From the news reports, from the messages - I presume this is worldwide. These creatures are blind in bright light and sensitive to sound. They run but they certainly have weaknesses. How did they take over the world? How did they take over the SGC?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I don't know." Sam replies. She holds on it for a moment or two. "I genuinely don't know." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It just doesn't make sense." Daniel thumbs over his chin, glaring down at his laptop for a moment. "We have weapons, skills, hand-to-hand training - and half the airmen here fight better than I do. How did this place get taken down so fast?" </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It does seem quite unlikely." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah." Daniel hmms. "To the point where it should have been impossible. Look at this place, it's basically a fortress. We're hardly a place that's easy to break into, and this place can be sealed off in multiple places. This shouldn't have been possible." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah." Sam puts down her soldering gun. "I guess... if we get power, we'll just have to see if there's any further logs. Any footage. Something we can look back at for reference."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah." Daniel says, and goes back to his laptop, frowning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They both focus on their own work for a few moments, galvanized by each other's presence. It's keeping them stable, keeping them upright. For now. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then, there's a solid, heavy knock against the office door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sam looks up. "Quicker than I..."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah." Daniel says, and picks up his weapon. "Weird."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sam moves to stand by the door. "Sir? Teal'c? Is that you?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There's no reply for a moment. Nothing at all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Uh." Daniel says. "I vote on not opening it." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Yeah, but what if it is them and they're trying to keep quiet because of those things out there?" Sam hisses. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You're the one with the military training." Daniel replies. "You tell me." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The moment hangs between them for a second. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I just-" Sam picks up her weapon as well. "This doesn't seem right." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Captain Carter, Daniel Jackson - open up this door immediately." To their surprise, the voice outside the door isn't Jack or Teal'c's. It's the General's. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hammond?" Daniel mouths. "How?" </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sam shakes her head, looking worried. "I don't know. This... I don't think it's possible." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"There are many of those creatures out here." The General says, calmly. Maybe too calmly? "I would like to be let in, as soon as you can." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"One moment, sir." Sam calls.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She looks over at Daniel, worried.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'll make it an order if I have to, Captain." The General - if it is Hammond, if it isn't, says.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sam blows out a breath. "I don't know. I don't trust it." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Goddamnit, Captain!" Hammond cries, banging a fist against the outside wall. "If you've seen what I have, you'd know that I can't stay out here much longer. Let me in."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sam hesitates, finger straying near the trigger of her weapon. "Dammit." She says. "Let's let him in. Carefully." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Okay." Daniel says, seemingly taking her decision as gospel. He moves towards the door, and starts moving the barricade aside.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just as he's about to unlock it, Sam's radio crackles. "Get your night vision off, kids, or you'll go blind. We're about to light this place up." Jack. Over the radio.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sam tears off her goggles, motioning for Daniel to do the same. She waves a hand, holding him back from the door.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Go ahead, sir. We're set." Sam replies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There's nothing for a second. No movement, no sounds, outside of Hammond - or whatever it is - banging its fist rhythmically on the outside of the door and calling for Sam. The door begins to creak.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Block it." Sam hisses. "Again. Now."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Quietly, as quietly as he can manage, Daniel moves one of his heavy files back in front of the door. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>They both wait, caught on the edge of tension, just waiting for...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Light floods the office space, scorching through the room, as the fluorescent strips overhead reilluminate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Outside the office, there's a terrifying, chittering scream.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sam draws her weapon. With Daniel's help, she moves the file away from the door. Both of them place their masks back on. Then, Sam pulls the door open. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The corridor is lined with bodies. Some deceased, some still moving. The General lies on the floor too, in front of the door. He's twitching, bloodied bubbles spilling from his mouth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Shit." Sam swears. "Hammond?" </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She looks as though she wants to move closer, but she doesn't dare.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The creature on the floor isn't the Hammond they know, if it ever was. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"General?" Daniel asks. He doesn't dare move closer, either.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With a sudden jerk, the creature on the floor flips over and sits up. Its eyes are blank, completely white, no irises. Torso bloody, shirt and pants ripped, and a huge gaping wound down one arm - it's nothing like the Hammond they saw on the recording, aside from the same head injury.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Daniel. Samantha." It says, its voice an eerie parody of the real Hammond's. "Help me up."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Where's the real General?" Sam says, suddenly, and shoves the end of her sidearm towards the creature. "What have you done to him?" </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I am the real General Hammond." The creature says. "All I want to do is help you. Help me up, Samantha. Bandage my wounds." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"The real General Hammond wouldn't ask us to do anything that would put our lives at risk in this way." Daniel says. He puts his hand on Sam's arm, tries to draw her back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Tell me." Sam spits, disgusted. "Tell me what you are." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm you, Samantha. I'm a human." The creature that was the General smiles, mouth a bloodied, twisted maw. Drool, faintly tinged red, dribbles down its chin and onto its shirt. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You don't look like any human I've ever seen." Daniel says, more bravely than he feels. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm sick, Daniel. Dying, in fact. I need your help." The creature begs, holding its arms up in supplication. "Help me." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"No." Daniel replies. "No. You're sick, but you're not Hammond any more." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Help me, Samantha." The creature cries, tears springing to its eyes as it crawls across the floor towards them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Stay back." Sam orders. "Do it, or I'll shoot. I don't want to hurt you, General."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You wouldn't, Samantha. You wouldn't want to. You're hoping for a cure." The creature's nails rake long tracks along the floor as it approaches them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Sam." Daniel warns. "We should-"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Stay back." Sam snarls. "I'm warning you."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It can't see us." Daniel hisses, in her ear. "Stop talking, it'll leave us alone." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It won't leave us alone." Sam replies. "It's not going to. Even if it can't see us. He's going to keep on coming."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"We took this world." The creature mocks, its voice a twisted shade of what Hammond's was. "We will take your lives too."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Who's we?" Daniel says. "Who are you?" </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Instead of answering, the creature suddenly springs to its feet, dragging one limp leg, mangled beyond belief, with it. It darts towards them, impossibly fast. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sam stumbles back, dragging Daniel with her. They back up against the wall, find their way towards the door, but there's no time, no time at all. The creature that was the General grabs hold of her pants leg at her hip, drags it down towards the ground, using her as leverage to try and sink thick teeth into her thigh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She can't shoot. She doesn't shoot.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She can't.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But then, there's a sudden shot. One, then two. Right into the creature's skull. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It's automatic, a reflex outside her conscious brain. It's her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The creature falls to the floor, fingers slipping free of the material of her BDUs. Gore and blood slip nauseatingly from the holes in its head and soak the floor in seconds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sam just stands, frozen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Come on." Daniel urges. He drags her back through into the office and shuts the door. Around them, the other creatures are beginning to wake from their stupor, follow the sound of their voices. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He drags the file back across the door and slumps to the ground against it, face white.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sam just stands for a moment, unsure of where to go.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Daniel rises to his knees, takes her weapon from her loose hands and drags her down to the floor. There's a bit of resistance, but then she sags, like a puppet with her strings cut, and goes limp, tumbling down to the ground beside him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I-" She begins, but it's like she's got a lump in her throat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You did what you had to." Daniel replies, trying to keep his voice from quivering, though he wants to cry, and puke, and maybe die, probably in that order. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"The General - he's gone, because of-" She can't finish her sentence. She just ducks her head down onto her knees, wraps her arms around herself, and stares off into space. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It's okay." Daniel says, but he's not sure if anything will ever be okay again. He reaches for Sam, tugs her close, and just holds her as she begins to cry.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What a hellish day.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Jack and Teal'c get back not long after, looking sweaty and stressed, but they've got replacement air tanks. They screw them in, replace theirs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sam's back working when they arrive, tears hastily scrubbed away from her face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack and Teal'c don't mention the body outside the door, and neither does Daniel. Maybe they should - maybe they should discuss it, but it's too raw. There's too much in the air right now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their conclusions are obvious. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Now that we've got rudimentary power on, I'd really like that atmospheric scan as soon as possible, Carter." Jack says. "These air tanks won't last forever." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." Sam's finished the light device by this point, and working on the scanner. It's a little hastily rigged, but they don't have any way to test the air in the base overall without it, so she's fine with it. "Give me two." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Teal'c and Jack unpack their cache of weapons. There's more high-grade ammo, and a bunch of flashbangs. "Cleared the armoury out of those." Jack says. "Obviously won't be that effective now that the power's back on, but it'll be helpful if there's any places that didn't get power, or when we go topside."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The 'if' is implied.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah, Jack." Daniel says, from his position on the floor. Every time he's tried to stand it's felt like his legs are about to give out. "I think I understand how the place got overrun." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Might it have something to do with the body of General-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel shoots a glance at Teal'c and shakes his head. Not now. Maybe later, but not now.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I might be able to hazard a guess." Jack says. "Some of those... things were talking. When we were on the way to the armory. I don't think they recognised us, but they sounded... human."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Like us." Daniel replies. "I doubt it'd be in the medical notes, if we ever find any others, but I'd like to suggest... perhaps the disease affected people differently or there were different strains. Some turned into those mindless things, and some..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Lost control of their faculties." Teal'c continues, "But retained the ability to speak and reason."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It could be a replication method." Sam says, head still bent over her work. "Convince your family that you're fine and you're safe, they let you in, they look after you - you're able to bite others and push the disease further." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Is that common?" Jack asks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam sighs. "Sir, I'm not a biologist. I don't know. I'm just hazarding guesses based off the little that I know. Perhaps it's a parasite? Some kind of brain worm spread by bites? There's examples of that in historical medicine. Can I get back to my work now?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah, yeah. Sorry Carter." Jack says. He keeps quiet for a few moments more.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel busies himself by scrolling through the files on the server on his laptop. A lot of them are over his head - bloodwork, drug combinations, other medicinal things that go over his head - he'll put them aside for Sam to look over later. There's records of gate logs, records of people coming and going from the base, and then a series of emails, marked URGENT.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn't get a chance to look at them as Sam says, "I'm ready. I'll run the scan."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She presses a few buttons on the device. It starts up with a jarring metallic sound. It's not loud, but it is annoying.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It'll take a couple of minutes," Sam says, "But we should get a picture of the overall air quality. I'm hoping - at least judging by the state of the... people... out there, that it won't be airborne if there's no active water particles being passed around. Coughing, sneezing, etc." She sighs. "This is really over my head, Sir. I can do the best I can, but as for a cure or vaccine or anything..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Your expertise surpasses that of us." Teal'c says. He is seated in one of Daniel's office chairs, looking calmly out towards the door. "Do not make light of your skill."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam blinks. "Oh. Uh. Thanks, Teal'c. I appreciate it. I just hope this works."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After a few tense, quiet moments, the device beeps, and the screen lights up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oxygen... carbon dioxide..." Sam murmurs, squinting at it, "Trace elements... there's nothing significantly abnormal, I'd say. I think it's safe enough, sir."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"How much, Carter?" Jack asks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"As much as I can be sure, sir." Sam replies, steadily.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He nods. "That's enough for me." Peeling his mask off and sealing it back into his BDUs, Jack runs a hand across his sweaty scalp. "Okay. Now. We've got to take these two levels back." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The plan is simple enough. Traverse the corridors, take out any threatening creatures, look after any survivors. Lock down access from above. Find a safe place to spend the night. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Teams of two." Jack says. "Carter and Teal'c, Daniel and I. Go room by room. Stay on comms, don't take any unnecessary risks, call in if you find anyone." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The 'if' carries a lot of weight. They don't really expect to find anyone. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack and Daniel take one of Sam's blinding devices, and Teal'c and Sam take the other. There's no real need to use them if the section is lit, but there's precedent if it isn't.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Sir." Sam asks, just before they split off into their teams. "What are we doing about the creatures? They're... they used to be-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She doesn't finish the sentence. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack thinks fast. It goes against most of what he knows, but - "We designate an area for them. Herd them into it. If they attack, your lives come first, but we're not going to take unnecessary lives without seeing if we can save our people first."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It's going to be challenging. It's going to be harder. But, they're going to make it work. They've got to.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The teams sweep the level, dragging prone or twitching creature bodies into one large observation room at the end of the floor. There's a lot of dead bodies, too, which they place carefully, safely, into one temperature-controlled cool room. They'll give them funerals later, send them through the Stargate, perhaps. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There's a few creatures up and about, some of which can still talk - speaking honeyed words, trying to get them to come closer, to touch them, to follow them... but they resist.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It's hard, it hurts, but they make it work.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It takes a few hours to clear the level. There's about fifteen creatures, in varying stages of consciousness, locked in the observation room, door barred.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Maybe they'll kill each other." Jack remarks, looking through the viewing panel, before slamming it shut. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I doubt it, Jack." Daniel says. He looks thoughtful. "They seem intelligent... enough. Swarm-like. I don't think they'll use each other as food."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Hmm." Jack says, looking sick. He doesn't look like he wants to discuss it more.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There's a lot of bodies in the other room. Too many. People they know and loved. The General's there, and Walter. Technicians, scientists, airmen - the disease had been vicious in its fury.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"No Janet." Sam says. She looks like she's on the verge of crying again, eyes red-rimmed. "Does that mean...?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"She could have escaped the illness." Teal'c says, though both of them know that isn't very likely. Janet would have been trying to save lives right up to the very end.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Mmm." Sam replies. "Maybe."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She jots down another name on her list - her terrible, far too long list - and the pair leave the room.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>What they don't find is any survivors. Anyone still left alive, untouched by the virus.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That is, almost, the worst part.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's nearly six pm, base time, when they congregate together again, in their briefing room. It seems so strange to be in there without any kind of general hubbub, without Hammond, without a mission.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"All hatches and doors above have been blocked." Sam says. "Lifts are down. There's nothing coming down unless we want it to. There's enough food on this level to last us for months if we ration carefully, and the water is self-sustaining. Power is too." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"That's some good news." Jack says, though he clearly doesn't think anything about this situation is good at all. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." Sam sighs. "We're going to have to go up soon, though." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Why?" Jack asks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm not a doctor. We all have triage medical skills but nothing significant if someone falls sick. Plus... someone up there might have a cure. For the creatures. The radio's not great, we can't radio out without one of our own radios on the other end, but we can look. We can see if any of the other levels have anyone on them. Any survivors."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Might I suggest a calculated effort, O'Neill?" Teal'c asks. "To avoid straining our supplies or ourselves, perhaps we try to regain control of one or two levels a day?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We'll be here for years then, Teal'c." Jack says. He yawns. "Look. I want to hit the hay. We've been up for hours, gone through absolute hell. Let's eat, then sleep. I'll think on it, make some decisions in the morning. Okay?" </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yep." Daniel murmurs, and the others follow suit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The mess hall is unbelievably quiet. There's plenty of food there, they've got the choice of weeks worth of meals, but Sam can only pick unceremoniously at some blue jello, still chilled from the fridge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She hadn't trusted the milk - the power had been off for at least a couple of days - so she'd made her coffee with reconstituted milk powder. It tastes a little grainy, but fine.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Health conscious." Daniel says, and takes a seat opposite her. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I don't want to go to sleep." Sam says, staring down at the surface of her coffee, at the way the grains of milk powder haven't quite mixed in. "I can't."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Every time you close your eyes you see the bodies down the hall?" Daniel asks. "Yeah. I gotcha."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"This is impossible, Daniel. It shouldn't be possible." Sam mutters. "Life was normal when we left, and now..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Now it's gone to hell. I know. I can hardly believe it either."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Did you ever see <em>Deep Impact</em>?" Sam asks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel looks at her, and snorts. "Sam, no-one saw <em>Deep Impact</em>. Everyone saw <em>Armageddon </em>instead. Who saw <em>Deep Impact?</em>"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I did." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Unbelievable." Daniel replies. "Go on, though. Imagine I saw<em> Deep Impact</em>. What?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Life is so normal for them, stuck in their little piece of Americana, and then suddenly, without warning, their entire world changes. They've only got two days to prepare and then - blam, their lives are uprooted completely. This doesn't feel completely real."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Feels a little like a Hollywood film, eh?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam looks at him, ruefully, then digs back into her jello. "If this was a Hollywood film there'd be a useless love story somewhere in there with me and one of you."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel snorts again. "I mean..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel rolls his eyes. "Sam. Not to distract from the terrible situation we are in, but I'm not blind." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Huh?" Sam puts a spoonful of jello in her mouth.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You're in love with Jack nearly as much as I am." Daniel says, matter-of-factly, like it doesn't matter at all.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But it does. It really, really does. Perhaps not in the scheme of things, in the scheme of the hellworld they're all living in now, but it matters. In the military, in their world - how could she have missed this?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam nearly chokes on her jello. "I-I don't. I mean. You. Uh? No. I don't- no."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Swallow, Sam, before I have to Heimlich you." Daniel says, smiling a little forlornly. "It's obvious. It's been obvious for a while."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I mean-" She lowers her voice. "He can't- he doesn't- he doesn't know, does he?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Hope not!" Daniel replies. "That would make things really uncomfortable. What a mess. I mean, this whole thing is the worst thing I've ever been through, but that makes it much worse." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Ugh." Sam groans. "I've got a headache, I can't even process any of this right now, and I'm afraid if I go to sleep I'll wake up screaming. They never showed this part in the movies." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Nah." Daniel leans back and takes another sip of his coffee. "They'd just skip right past it to the moment where we go up against those... things... again." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam looks up at him, suddenly fearful, all semblance of faux joviality gone. "Do you think there's a cure, Daniel?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Do you want my professional or personal opinion?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She thinks for a second. "Both, please." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Professionally, sure. There's got to be something that works, even if it's not really a cure. Historical plagues always had their weaknesses, and everything dies. We've just got to find out what kills it. Personally?" He sighs, and drinks more of his coffee down. "I don't know. I don't think so. I feel like things wouldn't have gone as badly here than they did if there was some kind of cure."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam looks at him for a moment, then goes back to her jello.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I think." Daniel starts, can't make the sentence work, then tries again. "I think that we just need to survive. Try what we can to push through each day. There's nothing else we can do."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"That's... almost motivational." Sam says, and squeezes his hand with hers for a moment.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'll write it on a greeting card and give it to you if we manage to survive the week, Carter." Daniel replies, and squeezes back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She laughs, tiredly, quietly. Then, "Do you want to sleep?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"No." He replies, "Not at all. But I think we should."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Where's Jack?" Sam asks. "Teal'c?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Teal'c is in his quarters." Daniel replies, "Kelno'reem or something. He seems to be finding his own form of zen in all this. Jack's punching stuff in the gym."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Have they eaten?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah. When you were spending your second hour in the shower."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam had needed to shower for a while. She'd scrubbed her hair, dragged her nails across her scalp, and cleaned everywhere, trying to get the smell of death off. It hadn't worked. She could still smell the creatures, bloody with a tang, like black mould in a musty basement. Her hair, brackish and straw-like from the shampoo, hangs across her scalp, still a little wet. She makes herself smile. It's fake. "They didn't have any showers on that planet. I was enjoying myself."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Mhmm." Daniel replies. "That wasn't the only reason, though, was it?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She declines to answer, and the pair of them finish their beverages in silence.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Where are you going to sleep?" Sam asks, once she's spooned the last out of her jello bowl. "Quarters are varying degrees of fine, but-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She doesn't want to sleep alone. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her quarters are too close to the observation room, where the creatures are still scratching on the walls. It won't work.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Was thinking one of the guest quarters?" Daniel says. "I don't..." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn't finish his sentence, but she gets it. She gets it a lot. All of the other quarters - they're personal. They have personal effects, a scent, a story. It'd feel wrong.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Sounds good."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Neither of them move.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Sam." He asks, a little awkwardly, because they don't know each other all that well, despite their mission history and shared thoughts about Jack. "Do you want to-"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." She replies, all in a rush. Then, she stumbles over her words. "I mean, sleeping. Yes. If that's what you meant."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." He looks incredibly relieved almost immediately. "Yeah, that's what I meant. It's just... this place isn't right quiet, you know?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It's weird." She absolutely understands.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm going to do some research, while I'm still in coffee mode." Daniel says, gingerly. "Probably be an hour or two. Where were you thinking of going? Which quarters?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"G-107?" It's the first one that comes to mind. She'd stayed there, once, when she wasn't yet part of the SGC, but close enough in to know its secrets. The room is large. Comfortable - or at least as comfortable as military bases can be.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah. I'll see you there?" He asks, still a little bit awkwardly. "Are you sure this is fine?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It's definitely fine." She replies.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn't know how much she needs it. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sam does some of her own research in her lab while she's waiting for the terrible coffee to wear off. Reads pages and pages of medical notes. Looks at trials and drug tests. It's all a little over her head, a little too much for her, but she does get the impression that there's not much they found to fight the disease. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It had made its way through the population so fast - there'd been no stopping it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She wonders, for a moment, if it's alien. It is possible - very possible - that it ended up on Earth via some kind of Goa'uld plan, a crashed ship they couldn't detect, maybe, or a sleeper agent, but she doesn't know if the Goa'uld would go to so much fuss. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They want to enslave their people, after all. There's not much that can be done with walking corpses, bloodied and beaten to the point of limb amputation. There's hardly anything that can be done with a literal zombie.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She winces a little at her use of the word, but it fits. That's the problem. Barring the strangely conscious handful of creatures - she flashes back for a moment to General Hammond's face, realistic and normal, but slightly wrong somehow - they're like zombies from the screen. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam almost wishes she paid a little more attention when watching Dawn of the Dead - though she's never really been into horror films. She wonders why Jack's so afraid of the creatures, wonders why they unnerve him so much.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She presumes, at some point, she'll find out for sure.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's elevenish when she begins to yawn. She's been up for nearly twenty hours, she's been through hell, and she's tired. She just doesn't know what she's going to see when she closes her eyes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The infirmary has sleeping pills, she knows that. She just doesn't know if they'll help. Sometimes, sleeping drugged can be worse than just sleeping fitfully.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Going past her quarters to change her clothes, she ends up running into Jack on her way towards the guest quarters. He's looking exhausted, sweaty from the gym, and ready to go to bed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He eyes her get-up but doesn't say anything. "Carter?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Off to bed, sir."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He nods. "I've rigged an alarm system that'll go off if any of those... </span>
  <em>
    <span>things-</span>
  </em>
  <span>" He spits the word, "try to escape. It's jacked into the comms system so you should hear it wherever you are on the level."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Thanks, sir." Sam says. "That'll keep a weight off my mind."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." He sighs, and for a moment, he looks horribly, horribly old. "It's going to be hell for a while, Sam. We're just going to have to deal with it. Get some sleep, because I don't know what it's going to be like tomorrow." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Thanks, Jack." She says, one of the rare times that she's used his name as of late. "I will. Hopefully." She touches him gently on the arm. "Where are you sleeping?" </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"My quarters. Teal'c too. You?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"One of the guest rooms."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She neglects to mention the Daniel thing. It's easier this way. She doesn't want to give him any questions to ask, doesn't want to open that line of questioning. It's none of his business.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She just wants to go to bed, sleep off the shock and chill in her system, and try not to focus on the absolute horror of the situation they're in. She doubts it'll work, but she wants to try.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack nods. "Reasonable. Do you know where Daniel is? I checked his office and his quarters, but he's not there."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah, he's doing some reading elsewhere on the level." She replies, only fudging the truth a little. "Wanted to get away from the creatures. I think he was feeling trapped."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack nods again. "Fair enough. Get some sleep, Carter. I'll check in in the morning." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Thank you sir."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He stops and looks at her for a moment, a little steadier than usual. "We will get through this, Carter."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes, sir." She replies, though she doesn't really believe it. "Goodnight."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Night." Jack says, and continues on his way.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam ends up in G-107 before Daniel shows up, presumably because he genuinely is doing some reading somewhere else on the level. She knows him too well. The guest quarters are comfortable, though not incredibly so. However, after the day she's had, the bed feels like slipping into a cloud.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She groans, finally weight off her feet, the relief all too obvious in her voice. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Shall I leave you two alone?" Daniel asks, from behind her. There's a tiny note of humour in his voice, and another of relief.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe he thought she wouldn't actually show up. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She had almost thought the same.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Please." Sam says, dryly, "I'd spend my entire life in here if I was left alone. Gotta have you as a comfort barrier." It's essentially inane nonsense, but this is a weird situation. Just a little.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There's a difference between sharing sleeping bags on an ice-cold world, or sleeping crammed into a tiny tent on an archipelago in the middle of a swamp. Sharing a bed in their base is a little more intimate. A little more weird.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Find anything interesting?" Sam asks, saying something that makes sense for the first time in a couple of minutes. "In your research?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Nothing much." Daniel replies. He sits down on the edge of her bed and starts unlacing his boots. "Only a couple of artifacts came through the gate before we did, and I suppose there's a possibility that they could have caused this thing but..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"There's no signs that the infection began in the SGC." Sam says, and yawns. "All of the reports I read suggested that it came from elsewhere in Colorado, was brought onto the base before anyone realised and then the lockdown came too late."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." Daniel says, pulling his socks off now. "That's the impression I got. Plus, the artifacts - from what I could gather from the minimal notes, one was a fertility idol, the other was used to carry a wheat byproduct. Neither of them seem like they'd have any reason to be filled with some kind of deadly disease. It just doesn't make sense." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We'll figure it out." Sam says, though the note in her voice is belied by a confidence she really doesn't feel. "We'll get there at some point." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." Daniel says. "Yeah." He says it again, though sounds even more unsure the second time. "This is - what a mess."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I can hardly believe it." She replies. She scrunches down a little more, presses her head more deeply into the pillows. "It's like a dream." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Or a nightmare."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." A thought comes to her. "Did you take anything? Sleeping pills- anything?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Nah." He pulls off his shirt too, then pauses. "Uh- I sleep like this. Usually. Is this? Alright?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She flips over, turns to face him, is mildly taken aback at the sight of his chest for a moment. "Yeah. Uh. Absolutely. No problem here. Whatever you're comfortable with."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Awful. Absolutely awful.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Cool." He lifts up the covers, slides himself under, obviously feels the same comfort after a long, hard day. "Oh, you were not kidding."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I mean, I've slept here before, these beds weren't that nice back then. I think this is better than the bed in my quarters." Sam says. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Maybe they were deliberately short-changing you last time." Daniel says, and quirks an eyebrow at her. "Testing your mettle?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I doubt it." It had been years ago. Perhaps her memory for the little things in life isn't that great, perhaps they'd just changed mattresses. Regardless, it hardly matters. "You didn't go for the sleeping pill option?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Figured not a good idea." Daniel says. He's close to her, almost a little too close. It's weird, like this. Not a problem, exactly, but weird. "First night back, base is chaotic, we're alone on a level with no idea what's above us... I didn't want to risk it."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." She nods, gently. "I was the same. I didn't quite think it was safe enough yet. And the dreams..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Better to be able to wake up from a nightmare than ride it out under the influence of sleeping pills." He inhales sharply, eyes going blank for a moment. "I keep on seeing his face."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"So do I."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>General Hammond had been a force in Stargate Command since before she'd even been working for the SGC. He had an impeccable military record, and a soft spot for SG-1. She didn't know what the world would be like without him as a boss. "I wouldn't have - I wouldn't have done it, but-"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I know, Sam." Daniel reaches out, under the covers, feels about for her hands and takes them. "I know. You had no other choice. We're living in a whole new world now."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I hate that." She says, though she lets the touch continue. She leans into it, feels the warmth spread up her arms, calms her racing heart. "I don't want to live in a world like this."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We don't know what it's like above." Daniel replies, clearly trying to change her mind, to soothe her. It doesn't really work. "For all we know, they weathered this thing fine, and they're just about to come down and get us out of here."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Don't feed me false platitudes, Daniel."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm trying to keep the mood up." He says. "If we don't try to keep at least a tiny modicum of hope then we'll go insane."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." He has a point. She just doesn't want to think about this, discuss it more. It's a hellish world they're living in now. "Can we go to sleep?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." He turns over, turns off his light, all of a sudden, and then they're left in darkness.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She can feel him turn back over to face her, features lost in the mild gloom of the dark room. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's an intimate darkness, a feeling she's not had in a while. She can hear him breathing, close but not close enough, and she wants to reach out and touch him, but doesn't feel like she can initiate the contact.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Can I touch you?" Daniel asks, face close to her ear. "This is good and all, but-"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." She replies. She gets it. She wants it. She wants to feel him, closer than he is, closer than he can be. It's not want, exactly, but it's something.  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He reaches out, pulls her to him and tugs her into his arms. The warmth is immediate and fulfilling, and she wants to soak in it, let it fill her up, beat out the darkness of the world. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn't smell like anything in particular, just something that's so quintessentially Daniel, but she likes it, and she welcomes it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Much better." He says, and she can feel his breathing even out against her chest.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." They've not touched like this, never quite like this, but she likes it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Go to sleep, Sam." He says, and, somehow, she does.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The clock by the bed glows 3.36am when Sam wakes with a gasp, mind slipping through the harshness of their day, of the violence they'd seen. Hammond's face. The bloodied, distorted body of Walter, of so many airmen and scientists she knew and liked.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There's no presence beside her, no pressure. She reaches out a hand, feels nothing but the lukewarm warmth of the sheets. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She squints through the gloom, sees the bathroom door ajar but hears nothing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's not prying, it's for safety's sake. Those are the thoughts that guide her, making her slip out of bed and step gingerly across towards the bathroom. "Daniel? Are you okay?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>No reply.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And that worries her. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel's a realist, for the most part, not overtly pessimistic or optimistic, but he weighs things up and then decides, considering the consequences fully before he makes his decision. He's not mentally ill, he's fairly sound in his statements, but this silence...</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's eerie. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He sleeps well, usually. This is weird. "Daniel?" She asks, again. "Are you okay?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Still nothing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She moves into the bathroom, quietly, gently, to see Daniel sitting in the bathtub, shirtless but still with pants on, water not running. His knuckles are nearly white on the edge, and his gaze is distance. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He's still breathing. That's the first thing she notices, even in the lukewarm dark.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Pretty sure you're supposed to fill that up with water first." She says, voice gentle but still shattering the quiet, and slips into the other end of the tub.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn't say anything.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Daniel?" She asks, still gently, and touches him on the knee carefully.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He blinks, startling a little, and focuses on her, and it's then that she realises that he's been crying. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Pretty sure you're supposed to fill this up with water, first." She says, again, since he obviously didn't hear her the first time.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." He replies, and leans forward to put his elbows on his knees.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What's going on?" She asks, though she's fairly sure she knows.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Had a nightmare, woke up, had a breakdown, figured I should do it in here so I wouldn't wake you." That's the thing with Daniel, he's so matter of fact. Like it doesn't even matter.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her heart hurts. "Oh, Daniel." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"To be expected, isn't it?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Doesn't mean you have to..." She lets the end of her sentence trail off. "We have no idea what's up there, Daniel. It could be hell. We can't keep secrets like this from each other. We won't survive." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He laughs, bitterly, head pillowed in his hands. "Not a good start."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"No. Come back to bed." She's tired too, and it shows in her voice. They need to sleep. If there's nothing else they can do, being awake and somewhat refreshed in the morning is the best way to start.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Think I'll just stay here, thanks."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She lays back against the end of the tub. "If you're staying, I'm staying."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You can't."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She snorts. "Daniel, you're six months older than me. If my back's going to suffer from spending the entire night in a bathtub, yours will too." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel rolls his eyes. "Come on, Sam." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Nope." She says, stubbornly. "Not moving."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You're acting like this is some kind of crisis intervention."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Isn't it?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm fine." He says, plainly, and scrubs his hands through his hair. "Ugh." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Men. Honestly. So much emotion, so few ways to express it. "Come back to bed, Daniel." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>If this is how their first night back is going to be, then she doesn't know how they're going to tolerate the rest. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He heaves another great sigh, and drags himself up, wiping a hand over his eyes. He stumbles, minutely, as he puts a foot down, but rights himself. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>At her questioning look - "My legs went numb."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Probably shouldn't have had a breakdown in a bathtub then."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He follows her back into the bedroom. "Hey. Why do the guest quarters have bathtubs anyway? That's a bit much."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Haven't you ever wanted to be on a military base, metres from potential alien threats, and relax in the bath?" Her tone's a little too jovial, a little bit much, but she keeps on going. For her sake. For his.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Not really." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She stops him, puts a hand on his arm, just before they reach the bed. "Seriously, Daniel. If you're panicking, or anything, just... wake me up. Or talk to me. I'd rather you did."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm fine, Sam." He pats her hand. "Same to you, though, of course." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They go back to bed, same dim light of the building being the only thing illuminating the room. These rooms never get truly dark. Sam doesn't know why, had wondered as such when she'd been staying here the last time, all those years ago. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel's eyes are quite bright in the dark, despite the time of the morning. Though, they're both night owls, always have been. It comes with the job.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Are you going to go back to sleep?" She asks, just for something to do.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'll try." He replies, though his tone implies anything but.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What did you dream about?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Pretty bad way to start the process to go back to sleep, Sam." He replies, a note of amusement in his tone.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She shrugs, "I was curious."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You, with the disease. Me, not. Having to make that decision."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She shudders. "Jesus."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You're telling me. Horrifying."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She sighs. "Something will happen, Daniel. Something always does."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." He replies. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's not much of an answer. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sam wakes up at six, warm and comfortable in Daniel's embrace. He's absolutely splayed out in his sleep, one leg thrown over hers, and she feels him against her back in a way that's very, very nice.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But she ignores it. She's been on a team with men for a long time now, everything's biological in this sense, and she needs to get up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She drags herself out of bed, chilled by the cool of the base almost immediately and goes to change.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Breakfast is granola, reconstituted milk and a coffee, and she feels almost halfway to human when Jack wanders in, bags heavy under his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He's wearing a hoodie and sweatpants too, and he looks about as tired as she feels.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Sir."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He waves a hand, blindly, and goes to make a coffee. "Don't call me sir, Sam. I think we're past that now."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"...Jack."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Better." His spoon clangs against the side of his cup and he winces. "Checked the creatures on my way here. They're not doing anything. Just sitting there. Very creepy."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She'd almost managed to put the creatures out of her mind. "I bet, si- Jack."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He wanders over and sits down opposite her, already getting into the coffee. "So. How's things?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Overall or me personally?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh, I know overall." Jack says, waving his cup with all the proclamation of an ancient general. "Overall, it's shit. It's completely shit. This is one of the worst things anyone could go through. I meant you, Carter." He points his cup at her. "How are you?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Living it up, Jack." She says, a little snarkily. Daniel's got to be rubbing off on her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I know this sounds weird coming from me," He says, "but be honest, for once."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She heaves a great, long-suffering sigh. "Fine, currently. Scared, definitely. I have no idea what's going to happen from here."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Understandable, that. Neither do I. How's Daniel?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Daniel's still asle-" Oh. Yeah. She realises her mistake almost immediately and winces. "Not very subtle, huh?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack doesn't even look surprised. "I didn't think me asking outright would be what got ya."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We're in quite a strange situation, sir." She doesn't even bother to correct herself. "I'm not at my best." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You two shacking up together?" Jack asks, like he doesn't even care. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That's what hurts, his indifference.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For her and Daniel both.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Do you really want me to answer that one, sir?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Don't make me make it an order, Carter." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His tone is so flippant that it nearly angers her. Why. Why is he like this? "Daniel and I slept in the same quarters last night, Jack."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Not what I was asking."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And that's almost a deliberate flouting of the frat regs, but it hardly mattered when they still had a planet and it barely matters now. However, it annoys her. It's hardly any of his business. The fact that he only cares now, when she's found a tiny light in the shit world they've found themselves in... It hurts. "As of this moment, no, Jack. We're not. Whether that might change is none of your business."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The gleam in his eyes goes dark. She doesn't want to think about what that means. "You're on a team together."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"He's a civilian and we're in an extraordinary situation. I doubt it matters."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He stands abruptly. "Don't let it affect your work. Meeting at nine in the conference room."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And with that he takes his coffee and walks off, without looking back.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Ugh. As well as the terrible situation they're in, Jack's going to be like this too. She hates it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After breakfast, she goes to the gym. She needs to find a way to clear her head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Teal'c already there, doing a slow set of yoga stretches in a way that seems far more relaxed and far more placid than the situation warrants. He opens his eyes as she approproaches, setting into a loose siddhasana.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Samantha."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Hi Teal'c. You look comfortable."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Join me, if you wish."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." She says. "Yes, actually. I will."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her back doesn't hurt, but it doesn't feel great, and the lines of tension through her body are obvious. She's going to start hurting soon if she doesn't sit down and do something about it. She was going to warm up, do some fight training, but this is... ideal. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Teal'c leads her through a slow routine of stretches, weight-holding, and holds. It's just enough to wake her up properly, and it smooths out the knots in her back excellently. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn't speak, aside from the instructions, but he doesn't need to. It's good, this. Comfort of another sort. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She likes it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When they're done, lying quietly on their backs in shavasana, only then does she speak. "How are you, Teal'c?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Outside the extenuating circumstances, Samantha, I am well."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"And including them?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I have seen horrors." That's Teal'c. He speaks plainly, and clearly. "This is one of the worst." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She nods, gently. “Yeah. I don’t like it either.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you rest last night?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I did. For a bit. I probably could have done with another twelve hours.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He lets out a gentle hum of acknowledgement. “I rested, too, but did not find the state of fulfilment I was wanting.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Circumstances must.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Indeed.” He replies. “It is enough to start with.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” She replies, and to her absolute horror, begins to cry. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s only slight, quiet tears tracing down her face, but it’s embarrassing and awkward all the same. She sits up, tries to wipe them away, but she can’t stop. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Samantha.” Teal’c says, quietly, and then his arms come around her from the back and she’s pulled into his embrace. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm sorry, Teal'c- I just-" It's the shock. It's the fear of the unknown. It's the death of Hammond, and Walter, and Siler - and everyone else she knew. It's too much.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You do not need to apologise, Samantha." Teal'c says, voice low and rumbly by her ear. "You have suffered a great loss."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She chuckles. There's no mirth in it. "We don't know that for sure. If we get up to ground level and it turns out nothing bad has happened I'll feel really silly."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn't reply, which is probably for the best.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The tears keep on coming, and she leans back into Teal'c's embrace a little more, feeling the reassurance in his stance. "I'm scared, Teal'c."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It has become very apparent over my time spent on this planet." Teal'c replies, "That the Tau'ri are very resilient. Your people will survive, in one form or another." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She wriggles around, turns in his grasp, and wraps her arms around his neck. That's the thing about Teal'c. He always knows what to say to make the situation better. It's one of his best traits. He may be quiet, but he's observational. He knows where he is in the world. "Thank you." She whispers, and brushes a kiss along his cheek. "For everything." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He just rubs a hand along her spine in response, and doesn't say anything. He doesn't need to. She knows what he means all the same.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>9am finds them all in the briefing room. Daniel's there, hair sticking up in odd spikes, halfway through a huge mug of coffee. He looks a mess, but she presumes they all do. Fashion isn't very high on the priority list during the end of the world.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Kids." Jack says, in greeting. He still looks vaguely annoyed, eyebrows drawn together in a way that's very unlike him, but he doesn't continue with his line of questioning from earlier. "So. We've got to make a plan."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Way to state the obvious." Daniel snarks, head almost buried within his coffee.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Less of the lip, Daniel." Jack snaps back. "We need a game plan for this thing.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I dug through some of my emails." Daniel says, in lieu of responding to Jack's clear attempt at provoking him. "Found one chain marked Urgent. I obviously hadn't been able to reply, but they cc'd me in anyway. Interesting read."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What are they?" Sam asks, leaning forward slightly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It's an email chain from a series of other Egyptologists across the world. We have this kind of network, I talk to them about their finds. It's really important to me, actually."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Daniel." Jack says.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Come on, spill the beans, what is it?" Jack waves his hands about grandiously.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"There was this dig in Syria about a week ago. Really fascinating stuff, actually. I could talk all about the structures they found and-"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"But you're not going to," Sam says. "Until after you've told us what the urgent point of the email was."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh yeah." Daniel replies. "They found a temple dedicated to worshipping Resheph." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"And who is he when he's at home?" Jack asks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Teal'c, however, is furrowing his brow. "I am familiar with that name, Daniel Jackson, but I cannot place as to where I have heard it."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"That's fair." Daniel says. "Resheph is a minor Canaanite deity here on Earth. One of the gods of war, he didn't end up in the Eygptian pantheon until much later-"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"And?" Jack says, looking like he's about to jump out of his skin.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"And." Daniel says, patiently. "He was the god of war and the god of plague. Firey, burning plagues. Sound like anything we know?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You think the disease was buried?" Sam asks. "For thousands of years?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Potentially." Daniel says, shrugging. "I'm not an epidemiologist, I have no idea how long viruses can survive. What I do know is that ancient temples that have just been unearthed don't tend to collapse on the crews digging on them one day after they were opened. After surviving thousands of years, I think that's a little bit too much outside of a coincidence." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"The temple collapsed?" Teal'c questioned, brow furrowing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes." Daniel says. He shuffles through his papers for a second. "Barely two hours into the second morning after they'd found the temple, bystanders heard a loud noise and screams as the building collapsed on the entire dig team."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well, that's a little... suspicious." Jack says. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah. Very." Daniel replies. "And it was, according to my emails, the very same day the WHO reported the first cause of their plague, which I don't even think got a name, it spread so fast. It's unbelievable."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"This situation sounds a lot like an attempt at violence of an alien origin." Teal'c says. "Reshaph reminds me of a name I heard when I was just a boy. I believe he was mentioned once or twice in conjunction with Ba'al."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"That would make sense." Daniel says. "Not much is known about Reshaph - he's a little thin on the ground in terms of research, that's why finding this temple was such a big thing, but he was mentioned frequently in writing from the time of his connection with Ba'al."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack is clearly getting a little impatient. "Is this guy a Goa'uld or not, Daniel? Do we need to be worried about aliens or is this just a real, ordinary, world-taking-over plague?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I think there's a possibility, sir." Sam says, quietly. "Such exponential growth... taking over the entire planet in three days - or at least, that's what we've presumed happened - that's almost impossible without some kind of exterior force. Our trade routes and shipping lanes are prominent, yes, but this is..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Unprecedented." Daniel finishes her sentence. "Yes. I also don't think it should have happened like this."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Great." Jack sighs. "Another thing to worry about. Fantastic. We'll leave that to one side for a minute. Today's plan. We've got 26 levels to go to clear the base. I think-"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I think we should go up to the surface, sir." Sam interjects. This isn't a spur of the moment decision, but something she's been sitting on for a few minutes. It makes sense.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Tell me, Carter." Jack says. "Why?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well." Sam begins. She actually hadn't thought this far ahead, really. The idea of going up to the surface, rather than trying to take the levels back one by one, it just made sense. "Expediency, sir. We're stuck in a situation we don't recognise. We need to gather intel, figure out what's going on outside the mountain."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes, which we can do once we've taken this place back." Jack replies. “Once it’s safe.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span> "You and I both know the risks of that." Sam replies. "There's four of us, there's upwards of 500 people in this base. One mistake, one slip, we're overrun. Those things are clever and dangerous. It's too unsafe, sir, no matter how much the creatures unnerve you." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Sam's right." Daniel says, to her surprise. "I know I'm not the tactics kind of person, but we can virtually shut off the levels we haven't cleared between here at the top - right, Sam?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes." She replies. "With the power on, we can." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Then we leave here closed, make it up to the top - the top level's fairly minimally staffed, from what I've noticed, it's just admin, isn't it? - and get that one back, then look outside." Daniel continues. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"That's a lot of shop talk for you, Danny." Jack says, steadily, but he's not disagreeing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You know the risks as much as I do, Jack. You know what's at stake." Daniel continues, as he stares Jack down. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I concur." Teal'c adds. "While not necessarily a sound plan, Daniel Jackson and Samantha Carter's idea has merit."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack throws up his hands. "Fine. Fine. Whatever. We'll go up to the surface. Not all of us, though. I'm not risking it. Here's what we'll do."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He outlines a plan that has its risks, but right now, really, everything does, and in the scheme of things, the risks should be minimal to them. Hopefully. Jack and Sam are going up to the surface, while Daniel and Teal'c stay below.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The pairings don't quite make sense to Sam, because if Jack wants to dial out, she'll have to work on the dialing computer at some point, but she doesn't argue. She senses that Jack is already a little mad at her anyway. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We'll start at 10." Jack says. "Get geared up and meet me back here." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And with that, he leaves. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"That was weird." Daniel says, staring back at him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Indeed." Teal'c adds. "For O'Neill, he was quite succinct."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I don't want to get into it." Sam heaves a sigh. "I'll see you in a bit."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She goes to collect her gear. It feels a little like settling back into routine putting it on, a little like coming home. It's heavier than usual, however. The thickest fabrics they have, those most likely to resist bites. It should be fine, considering it's daylight, but...</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She shudders, and doesn't want to think about it. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>On the way back to the briefing room she steps into the security room and grabs a portable device. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>One of the benefits of the alien technology they've run into over the years, as well as jumps in Earth technology in recent years - she can control the security of the base via something that's essentially a mobile.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Technically she shouldn't be able to, but a little jury-rigging makes it work. Needs must, sometimes. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She slips the device into one of her BDU pouches and re-joins Jack and the others in the briefing room just before ten. They all look varying degrees of nervous. Unsurprisingly. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Great." Jack says, when he sees her. "Ready?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Not really, sir." She replies. There's not really anything else she can say.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yep." He agrees. "Daniel. Teal'c. We won't be back until this evening, what are you going to do all day?" </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I was going to see if I could dig into the base files of-" Daniel starts, but Teal'c smoothly interjects over him, "I am going to clean some of the internal structures of this level. Daniel Jackson is going to join me."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Daniel huffs a little and rolls his eyes. "I'm going to help Teal'c mop, presumably."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Good." Jack nods. "We'll check in every hour, but other than that, radio silence. Don't want to wake up a nest of those things by a comms burst at the wrong moment. I expect this place to be spic and span by the time I get back, dears."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Do you want dinner on the table, too, honey?" Daniel snarks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We'd love it. Come on, Carter. Time to go." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yes sir." Sam says. She looks at the other two. "...Look after yourselves."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You too." Daniel says. He looks a little like he wants to say something else, but doesn't go for it in the end. Teal'c just nods at her, a passive smile on his face. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Great. Time to go." Jack says. He leads them towards the lift at the end of the corridor, which Sam powers on with the device in her pocket as they approach. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Good luck." Daniel says, as Sam presses the open door button by the lift.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Ah, we'll be fine." Jack replies, shrugging. "What could go wrong?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They step into the lift. Pressing the button for Level One, the last thing Sam sees of Daniel and Teal'c before the doors slip shut is the looks on their faces.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They look afraid. For them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"Might be worth telling you now that we couldn't get the power on to the floors north of level five." Jack says, turning to Sam. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well, that's unhelpful," She says, steadily, looking out at the doors. She doesn't meet his gaze. "I would have loved a heads-up for that... any time before now, really."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Gives you a chance to test out your light gun thing, though." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Sir." She says, turning to him. "We're walking into an unpredictable situation and you didn't feel the need to let me know about something that decreases our chances? These lifts are not quiet. I don't know what we're expecting when those doors open, but it could be anything. Besides, I thought we were trying not to harm any of these things. Just in case there's a cure."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Your light thing stuns them, doesn't it?" He asks, trying to be helpful. He's still a little annoyed, a little grated by what he'd learned about her and Daniel earlier in the morning, but he's trying to work past it. He's got to.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I mean. I guess?" She sighs. "I didn't get a chance to test it on any of them, sir. I finished it quite late."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"And then you went to sleep."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I swear, sir," She spits. "I'm trying to keep this professional, but I can't have you bringing this up. It's unfair to both me and Daniel. Extenuating circumstances."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Extenuating circumstances." He echoes. That's the thing. He doesn't really know why he's being so much of a dick. It just sets his hackles off, a little. The shared room thing. The implications. He needs to shake it off. "Sorry, Carter. Genuinely. I'm being overbearing."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You wouldn't be the Jack O'Neill I know if you weren't." She replies, not looking at him, but she's still smiling, and that's what matters. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They pull their night vision goggles on as the lift reaches level one. It's too bright in the lift, but it doesn't matter as the doors slide open, and they're engulfed immediately by darkness and a terrible, terrible smell. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Carter gags, softly, trying not to cough.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There's no noise. Nothing at all.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack leads them silently out of the lift, away from the bright light still flooding the corridor. With her device in one hand, Sam quickly slides the lift's doors shut and sends it back down to level 28.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There's nothing at all, aside from the terrible reek of blood and bodies. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They're both familiar with Level One. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's all admin, all offices, NORAD and the like. Jack isn't even really sure if all the employees on this level know about the existence of the Stargate.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Which, in hindsight, must be fun every couple of months when the base auto-destruct gets set off by one marauding alien or another.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He shakes his head. Not the time.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They creep past bodies. So many bodies. Most of them are dead. A couple of them are twitching. There are no survivors. Nothing that can reach out and grab them.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's an unnerving trip to the security office, and the giant door that keeps the base locked down from the outside. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack slides the door shut behind them and perches on a table. There's clearly no-one in this room. No-one able to harm them, at least. There's one security guard, base ID reading Johnson, S, slumped halfway off his chair in front of the security controls. Half his hair is torn from his scalp, and there's bloodied handprints across his chest. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"No cameras outside." Jack says. "No power."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Emergency power hasn't held out for this level." Sam says, furrowing her brow. "Not ideal."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"No." He replies. "We have two options here. The door-" The big door, in question, being the main entrance to the base. "Or we take the ladder up from here to the hatch above. However-"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We don't know if they've gotten into the maintenance shafts." Sam finishes his sentence. That's the thing about her, one of the things he's always admired. She's got a good head on her shoulders.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"The door's loud, and if we open it, then we're letting a whole bunch of terrible things out into whatever's going on out there." Jack says, "But the maintenance shaft is riskier. That's why I didn't suggest climbing all the way up from level 28. Too much risk." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I think we have to use the ladder, sir." Sam says. She looks worried, for a second. Jack wonders what she is thinking. "Like you said, we don't know what's going on outside. We want to make sure we're not unleashing anything outside."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Best case we're just trapped in here with a bunch of corpses and outside is fine." Jack replies. There's no conviction in it. He knows it isn't likely.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Best case." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack heaves a great sigh. "Y'know, this was so much more fun in Dawn of the Dead."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I thought we weren't mentioning the z-word, sir."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh, I didn't mention it." Jack replies. However, he can't stop thinking about it. "But I was definitely thinking it." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam presses at a few buttons in the security booth. When nothing happens, she steps back with a huff. "Emergency power is definitely down. I'm surprised the lift even made it up here, but I think that's powered on a different system. Honestly, though. We're supposed to have at least two weeks worth."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You can complain to the manufacturers of our generators when we figure out what's going on outside, Carter." Jack says. "Ready to go?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam looks around, for a moment. "Yeah." She says, though the look on her face says anything but. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They make their way out of the security office, down the corridor, and to the maintenance hatch. Sam keeps watch while Jack types in the code - thankfully still working - and pulls the door open. He steps in, looks around, up and down.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nothing. For the moment. A chill creeps up his spine for a second. Creepy. So creepy.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He shakes it off and taps Sam on the shoulder, urging her up the ladder before him. Then, he pulls the door to the outer corridor shut, carefully, quietly.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Still nothing. Sounds like maybe they've been lucky. For the moment. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The climb is only about forty feet, but its the longest forty feet of Jack's life. Their footsteps echoing down the shaft, their boots on the rungs of the ladder... it's creepy. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam taps him on the shoulder when she reaches the hatch and holds up one finger.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She needs a moment to find the latch. Fair. He looks around, scans around, and-</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Nearly falls off the ladder when something clutched to the dark edge of the wall reaches out and grabs him by the leg. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It snarls, and jumps on to the ladder.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"They're on the walls." Jack hisses, barely managing to hold on as he kicks and kicks at the creature below. "Get a move on, Sam!" </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He winds an arm around the rungs of the ladder and kicks out firmly with his boots. He can't fire, he'll deafen them both. He can't drop a flashbang, because of the same. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>One of his flailing kicks connects and drops the beast, screaming, chittering, into the void below. But, there's others. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>With horror in his voice, he hisses, sharply. "Carter. Hurry up!"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They're crawling up from below them, clutched tight to the rungs of the ladder and the walls around it, crawling up cables and cords with all the athleticism in the world. There's nothing he can do. He's nearly frozen, clutching tight to the rungs of the ladder, when Carter -</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Slams the hatch up with one hand and light floods the tunnel.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack blinks, completely blind in his night vision, and only just manages to climb up the ladder, senses gone for a second as Carter grabs him by the collar and drags him up and out through the hatch.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She drops him roughly to the grass outside and slams the hatch shut.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He peels off his night vision goggles, blinking spots out of his vision. It takes him a moment to focus, a moment to take stock of what he sees.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's horrifying.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's unbelievable.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It's... unlike anything he'd ever expect seeing on this side of the world.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Sir?" Sam says, with more hesitance in her voice than he's ever heard. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The landscape is torn and burned. It's not like a nuke has been dropped - thankfully - because they'd be in a whole lot of trouble from radiation if it was, but it's charred and blackened like there's been heavy fire around the base. Somewhere, in the distance, something is burning.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He thinks it might be Colorado Springs. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>lol so it's been a while</p>
<p>i got bronchitis (not the rona, thank fuck) </p>
<p>also i broke my leg</p>
<p>pain</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The air is thick with the scent of smoke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And there's not many birds. That's the first thing he notices. It's incredibly quiet. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There's nothing around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What the hell." He breathes, and turns to Sam.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looks about as shocked as he feels. "They must have... I don't know, sir. Dropped some kind of heavy artillery? This is..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can't even find the words either.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It's horrifying. It's unbelievable. It's so, so much.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There aren't, however, any of the creatures around, which is a start.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Let's go, Carter." He says, and stamps off down the edge of the hill towards the entry of the base. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Did they bite you?" She asks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In his shock over the outside of the base, he hadn't even thought about it. He pulls up his pant leg, which is torn through with nails. However, the skin underneath his sock is unblemished. "No."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Good." She says, obviously relieved. She doesn't say anything more about it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There's bodies outside the mountain, still clutching their rifles. One corpse moves, bisected, dragging its entrails along the pavement towards them, a mass of bloodied, horrifying slop, and Jack draws his silenced pistol and shoots it without a second thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It's only a moment, only one second of staring into its bright white dead eyes when he feels the bile rise in his throat, and he has to dash towards a bush and vomit, feeling his morning coffee come back up the way it went in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The stomach acid burns acrid at the back of his throat, but it's about what he needs to wake him from his stupor. This is real. This is now. He needs to start acting like he knows what he's doing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sir?" Carter asks, worriedly, as he turns back to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wipes a hand over his mouth. "I'm fine. Just... Yeah. This."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She nods. "It's pretty horrific."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's more than that." He says, but doesn't elaborate. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They walk around the perimeter of the base's entrance. Bodies. More bodies.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The worst part is the bodies that are lying up against the base's big door. Clutching at it, as though pleading, their corpses masses of dried blood and flies, heating up in the morning sun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It reeks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"There's nothing here, Carter." Jack says.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I know." She replies. "But I had... hoped."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We'll have to go further afield." He replies, though he had as well. If only they'd made it out of the mountain to find people waiting for them, doctors and nurses, higher command, someone he could hand this incredible responsibility off to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But no.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He still needs to lead. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Want to take a truck, sir?" Sam asks, as they walk towards the main road. "Would be faster."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Louder though."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"All the reports say those things can't operate well in the day. We've seen that to be true."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"They're not who I'm worried about." Jack says, and doesn't elaborate. If she doesn't understand, she will.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Crisis situations can bring out the worst in people. They can also bring out the best. Jack doesn't think that anyone they encounter will be particularly happy to see them, though. He's seen enough war to know that much. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It's a quiet day. There's a few birds, but not nearly as much as he'd expect. He wonders if the creatures feed on other animals too, or if they strictly go for humans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hopes he doesn't need to find out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The road is deathly silent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He feels the need to fill the air. "So, Carter. Anything interesting happen last night?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm not going to discuss this with you, sir." Sam says, resolutely, lips set in a thin line.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks at her for a second. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm genuinely - genuinely - not asking for any gory details. That's not my right, and I don't get to step on..." He waves a hand, "Whatever this is. That's not fair of me. I'm genuinely asking. Are you two both dealing with this?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looks at him, just for a second, then ducks her head away. "About as well as anyone could be, sir."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Not an answer, Sam."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What do you want me to say?" She asks, throwing up her hands for a moment. "I didn't really sleep, Daniel had a breakdown, we're both just coping and it's going to get worse? Is that what you want to hear?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He's silent for a second. "At least you're being honest with me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Honestly isn't very helpful when you can't do much about it." She mutters, and he has to stifle a chuckle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Carter, I know this sucks. I'm the first to admit it. But at least we're stuck together."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You're not going to be happy about that in six months when we all want to claw each other's eyes out because we've been stuck in the same place together for too long." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh, I don't know." He replies. "This could be an excellent way to build relationships. Team building. Or something." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sees her glance at him for a second, out of the corner of his eye, and then glance away. It's a little hesitant. A little considering. He wonders what that's about. But, he doesn't ask. Interesting. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"If five years on a team together didn't do it, I'm not sure what would, sir." Sam says, looking out straight in front of them. "I think those at the SGC would agree that we have a fairly good team dynamic."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Could be better."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How, exactly, sir?" Sam starts, mock aghast, "All I know is-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Quiet." Jack mutters, and holds up a hand. He's spotted something, about fifty feet up the road from them. A car, just peeking out of the bushes on the left side, one tail light broken. There's smoke coming from it. The crash looks recent. It looks strangely fresh. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He gestures, points it out to her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She nods, brings her weapon up, and together, they creep towards the car, walking almost silently in their boots along the gently sloping road.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There's one chittering creature. Violently snarling and snapping at them from the back seat. It probably was a teenage girl, seventeen or eighteen maybe, but its eyes are bright white and the drool dripping from its mouth is a dark, bloodied red.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the driver's seat is a woman, seat up against the airbag, compressed in. The front of the car is completely destroyed, crunched up against a thick oak on the side of the road. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There's smoke coming from the car's hood. It doesn't look safe, looks like it could be moments from flaring up and engulfing the car whole. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You wanna-" Jack mutters, and gestures to Carter. Together, they pry the door free and gently manage to untangle the woman from the airbag. She's got a pulse, weak and thready but unmistakably there, and they carry her together about a hundred feet down the road. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It's a good thing they got away, too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It's only a moment or so before the car bursts into flame, the creature inside chittering and screaming at them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Should we-" Carter says, looking over at him, worriedly. "I mean-"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How would we subdue it out here?" Jack says, but he gets it. The creature was a human once. Disgusting and disease-ravaged as it is now, it was still once a human. He wants to help it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But they can't.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The car goes up in smoke in a moment of minutes, and it's not long before the gas tank explodes, sending flaming shrapnel skittering across the road in all directions. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It'll burn itself out." Jack says. "Road’s damp, so the trees must be too. I don't think anything will catch."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We don't want any more fire." Sam says, and looks down at the woman. "What the hell do we do with her?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What do you think injuries-wise?" He asks, crouching down beside the body. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She probably was pretty, before the accident. Long red hair, freckles, a little fuller-figured, maybe early 30s. She's bloodied, now, though, and her nose is twisted at an odd angle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Definitely a broken nose, which I could set if we were back at the base." Sam says. "Broken arm, I probably couldn't. Could be any number of internal injuries, sir, which I can't deal with. We need a doctor, and we need one fast." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We also can't carry her." He says. He knows how far they have to go before they get into town, and it's a decent distance. "There was a truck a bit back there, wasn't there?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah." Sam says. "Hopefully will have fuel?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'll get it." He says. "Keep her breathing. Won't be long."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The jog back down the road to the truck isn't fun in full gear and with smoke in the air, but it's manageable. He hotwires the car, because there are no keys anywhere, and jogs back to Sam within about ten minutes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he arrives back, now with a large stock truck that makes an odd whining noise every time he turns the wheel to the left, Sam’s sitting on the ground, the woman's head in her lap, and stroking gentle hands over her head. She's covered up the worst of her scrapes, too, and made a cursory attempt at stopping most of the bleeding.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Help me carry her." Jack says, and really hopes the woman doesn't have any spinal injuries, as they lift her into the back seat of the truck and secure the seatbelts around her body. Sam tucks her jacket under the woman's head to elevate it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"We don't even know if there's anyone still alive in the city." Sam says, as she climbs into the passenger seat. "We don't even know if there's a doctor... here. Or nearby. We don't even know if there's anyone still alive."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Well, she's alive, and that's a start." Jack says. Then, a thought occurs to him. A new reality of their new world. "Did you check her for bites?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Shit." Sam says. "Totally slipped my mind. Keep going, I'll climb into the back and check."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Thanks." Jack says, and keeps driving down the road towards Colorado Springs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sam slips between the driver and passenger seats, gingerly, and kneels down in the footwell, checking carefully over the woman's skin for any kind of bites. She checks under the edge of any exposed clothing, too, from what Jack can see in the mirror, and does it very thoroughly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Nothing." Sam says, sitting back a little. "Unless they're right under her clothes. I wonder why she was driving, though? Pretty sure that document said that the creatures turned in under a few minutes."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Maybe she was trying to save the girl."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Maybe." Sam huffs a little, quietly, under her breath, and climbs back into the passenger seat. She notes the clock on the dashboard and checks it against her watch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Five to eleven. I'll call in." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yeah."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sam had just managed to get shortwave working out of the base before they'd left. Nothing too major, just AM/FM and ham, but enough to get their radios to work while out exploring on their own. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Teal'c, Daniel? This is Carter, can you read me?"</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Daniel's voice is a reassuring warmth across the comms. "Good to hear from you, Sam. What's going on?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh, you know." Jack says, interjecting before Sam can say anything. "It's just peachy. World's definitely not on fire or anything." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"The fact that I can't tell whether or not that's a metaphor freaks me out a bit, Jack." Daniel says. "Seriously, be honest. How does it look?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They relay the facts to Daniel, the bare minimum. It's hard to describe the scorched grass, the trees, the bodies, the blood, the bisected zombie creature still moving, the devastation. They give him what they can.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well, that's horrible." Daniel says, faux cheerfully. "Definitely not going to have any nightmares about that tonight, no sirree."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"And how are you, Daniel?" Jack asks, because he doesn't want to think about it. Doesn't want to think about how he'll definitely be waking up in the middle of the night too, cool sweat on his brow, his heart in his mouth. Doesn’t want to think about Daniel and Sam together. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He hadn't slept the best the night before. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Just great, Jack." Daniel says. "Living life. Teal'c has me mopping blood off the walls. I'm definitely not trying not to puke every single moment that I do it."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Sounds great, Daniel." Sam says. "By the way, we found this woman..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She tells Daniel of their plan, where they're headed. It's not a great start, but Daniel hmmms and haaas at the correct places, so he's obviously still at least listening somewhat.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then, she tells him about the creatures in the maintenance tunnel.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"So we'll have to get them out of there." Daniel says. "I'm sure Teal'c and I can figure something out."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We don't know how far a fall they can survive." Sam says. "They could just be waiting down at the bottom of the shaft - the ones who Jack knocked off the ladder at the top." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"That's a bit much, isn't it?" Daniel says. "I mean, they are still trapped in human bodies."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"But they don't feel pain." Sam replies. "So much of our self-preservation response is linked to the pain we feel. Don't feel it, we don't do anything about it. There's been plenty of studies of people who have lost their pain responses and just gone about living their lives with broken ribs or significant head injuries because they just can't feel them."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Grim!" Daniel says. "Gotta go. Teal'c waving at me. I think I'm neglecting my mopping. Talk later." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Bye Daniel." Sam says.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Bye." Jack echoes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam switches off her radio.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Well, that was fun." Jack replies. "Good to know someone's doing something back there."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Someone being Teal'c." Sam replies. "I don't think Daniel's ever mopped a floor in his life."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Child genius." Jack shakes his head, "You miss out on all the fun."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They reach the city limits within minutes, and Jack slows the truck to a halt. "Where would be best to go, Sam?" </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'd say the hospital..." Sam says carefully, "But cautiously. I don't think those creatures are much of a threat in the daylight, but I worry..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She leaves the rest unspoken. She's clearly taken on board his concerns from earlier in the day. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The streets of the city are silent. Newspaper and garbage blows across the road, stacked up in loose piles. Curtains twitch as they drive past, people looking out from within. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>No-one stops them, though.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We should stop." Sam says. "Talk to people. There's clearly survivors. We could help."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"What do you think they think of us?" Jack replies, without even looking over at her. "The base, a place they probably thought they could rely on, was shut for several days. There's bodies piled up outside it. They probably aren't feeling too happy with military folk right about now."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sam sighs. "You're right, sir. Obviously. Still doesn't quite feel right leaving people on their own."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We find a doctor, we find some infrastructure, we figure this out." Jack says. "Then we can go around saving people."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah." Sam says. She still doesn't look convinced.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jack keeps driving. There's very few signs of life - a shop advertising 'water restocked every two days' surrounded by a chain link fence. There's an armed man standing inside, glaring at them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He pulls the truck to the side, off the edge of the road. "Wait here. If things go to shit, drive." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"But, sir." Sam starts, but she stops when he shoots her a look. "I mean it, Carter. If things go to shit, get out of here."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She doesn't say anything, just nods. "Be careful." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Always am."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then he unclips his gun, unholsters all his weapons aside from his pistol, and clambers out of the cab.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The armed guard, probably mid-30s, olive-skinned, wearing a flat peak hat and off the shelf kevlar, eyes him warily as he walks up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Hi." He says, holding up his hands. "Not here to cause any trouble."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Back off, military." The man sneers. "We don't want your type around here."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"My type?" Jack asks. "Who's my type? And where can I find them?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Your type left us for dead when it all went to shit." The man spits on the ground, scrapes through it with his boot. "Don't want you here."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"We have an injured woman in our back seat." Jack says. He doesn't know why he says it, he's losing leverage by doing so and he doesn't know what this man will do. "We just want to get her to a doctor. I know things have gone to shit and I'm sorry, and we'll do anything to help when we can, but I just want to make sure she survives. Is there a doctor around here? Any kind of medical professional?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The man considers him for a moment. Still looks wary, still looks like he doesn't want to give Jack anything. He thumbs over his teeth with a finger. "Eff's down at the old private hospital. On Greenway Ave. She'll help you out. I guess." </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Thank you." Jack replies. Genuinely, for a moment. "Hey. What's the deal with the water?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Back off, military." The man raises his gun again, and Jack decides to quit while he's ahead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Back in the car, Sam looks over at him, annoyed. "You probably didn't need to do that."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Got me answers, didn't it?"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"It could have cost you your life."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"Nah." Jack replies, thinking it over. "That guy - he'd been trained somehow, no idea where or when. He had trigger discipline, even if he was a little edgy about it. He wasn't going to shoot me."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"You have no idea whether or not he would have, Jack!" Sam says, and for a moment there's a tiny wet note in her voice. "We are living through the worst crisis this world has ever seen. Nothing we think we know we can completely rely on." She holds for a second, the words obviously caught in her mouth. "I just- Without you, I don't- I can't..."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She can't finish her sentence.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>"I'm flattered, Carter." Jack says, gently, and reaches out for her hand for a moment. He grips it gently, languishes in the feeling of her skin under her palm. "Genuinely."</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The moment breaks as they get to the private hospital. Jack slams on the brakes. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The whole place is boarded up, thick wire fences strung across a meagre opening by one of the front doors.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There’s a guard outside, same weapon, same cheap kevlar. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He looks suspiciously at them as Jack moves to get out. “Same deal, Carter. If things go to shit…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes sir,” she replies, but doesn’t look happy about it.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Move along, military.” The man, almost a carbon copy of the previous one, sneers. “We don’t want you here.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Instead of arguing, Jack just puts his hands up. “We have an injured woman lying across the back seats. Guy down the road said you had a doctor here. That true?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Maybe.” The man doesn’t look impressed.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“All we wanna do is get her some help. We’ll move on after that if you don’t want us around. Promises don’t mean much right now, but we promise.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Show me.” The man says, and doesn’t budge.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Gently, carefully, Sam pushes open the truck door. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The man inches around, gun still trained on them. He doesn’t get close.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As soon as his gaze hits the women, he blanches, and nearly drops his gun, hands shaking. “Oh my God.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Oh yeah, Jack thinks. This is good.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>what can i say i like apocalypse fics</p>
<p>written, hastily, for nanowrimo 2020</p>
<p>hit me up on the <a href="http://eph-em-era.tumblr.com"> tumblr </a></p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>